WHE Global Emergency Roster - Technical Health Logistics Officer at World Health Organization

Purpose of the Position

• In line with the WHO Health Emergencies Programme (WHE) mandate and in the context of the deployment of qualified emergency personnel to support response teams during health emergencies, the purpose of this vacancy announcement is to identify suitable candidates for the WHO emergency Operations Support and Logistics (OSL) roster.

The Technical Health Logistics (OSL TECH) pillar provides technical expertise, tools, methods and means to meet the specific health logistical needs of WHO and Emergency Responders when responding to Health emergencies. The Technical Health Logistics Officer has acquired demonstrated qualifications, expertise, and experience to provide support to WHO Incident Management Teams in any, or all of the following emergency work areas, including but not limited to:

• Health Facilities management
• Infection prevention Control (IPC) and Water Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) standard implementation
• Information and Communication Technology (ICT)
• Laboratory facilities Support
• Safe and Dignified Burials / dead body management
• Vaccinations and cold chain

As a member of the WHO OSL roster, the incumbent will be deployed to contribute to emergency operations when required in a position, at a rank, and for the roles compatible with her/his expertise and experience. 

Objectives of the Programme and of the immediate Strategic Objective

• The mission of WHO’s Health Emergencies Programme is to strengthen emergency technical and organisational capacities of member states, and to act as a backstop to coordinate international action, to prevent, prepare for, detect, rapidly respond to, and recover from outbreaks and emergencies.

Organizational context

• Under the supervision of the OSL Lead and/or the Incident Manager, guided by the Head of WHO Country Office, working closely with relevant counterparts including WHO, partners, and national personnel, the incumbent acts as the Logistics Specialist to provide support to WHO emergency response team, response partners and to the Ministry of Health of the host country. Activities involve regular contact and information sharing with relevant WHO responders as well as with a broad range of actors from the Ministry of Health (MOH), to provide emergency technical support and to contribute to the development and implementation of logistics plans of action pertaining to health emergencies priority actions agreed upon with the emergency response leadership, partners and recipients.

Summary of Assigned Duties

• During deployment, the duty station may change, and duties may be modified, based upon the technical needs of the Programme, which is determined by the nature and scale of the emergencies in which the Programme is being involved. The incumbent will perform all or part of the following duties:

Generic OSL duties

• Design and set up required logistics operations and supply chain capacities to ensure WHO and its partners have adequate and efficient tactical means required for a timely and safe implementation of the response plan
• Identify and propose proactively solutions to improve logistics and operations
• Share adequate information, tools and knowledge with colleagues, relevant partners, and recipients, contribute to situation reports, activity dashboards and other communication products
• Contribute to the performance of emergency procurement activities with relevant actors
• Coordinate activities with partners and recipients whenever relevant and possible
• Prioritize sustainable activities with capacity building and transfer of knowledge to national actors and partners, whenever possible
• Apply and demonstrate WHO emergency competencies (cf. WHE learning strategy-companion document on competency framework)
• In line with UN charters, promote diversity, gender equity, environmentally friendly solutions, and humanitarian localisation principles whenever possible
• Beyond deployment initial terms of reference, be flexible and perform other related OSL incident-specific duties, as required by the evolution of the emergency context, and as expected by the functional supervisor
• Know and apply UN principles for Duty of Care of personnel, SPHERE standards, WHO Charter and values, as well as UN policies for the prevention sexual abuse and exploitation

Specific duties

• Actively support the response forecasting and planning exercise bringing technical expertise in the domain of emergency vaccination campaign, health care facilities and laboratories set up and management, safe and dignify burial (dead body management), medical commodities management (active and passive cold chain), sample collection and transport, WASH and IPC measures implementation(e.g. PPEs, disinfectant, incinerators and other waste management installation), energy production and management (generators, solar panels, batteries, UPS), telecommunication  as well as any other activities requiring  health logistics technical expertise
• Advise, support and train member states and partner’s personnel in health facilities, laboratories, and health activities set up and management with health logistics expertise to ensure establishment and use of adequate standards and good clinical practices (GCP)
• Support implementation of water, sanitation, hygiene (WASH) and infection prevention control (IPC) standards and requirements, including adequate establishment of key supplies and equipment for triage, isolation, ambulatory health activities, clinical management and care, waste management; and for other assigned priority health operations, support vaccination activities, transportation, storage of vaccines at central and distribution at field levels and manage installation, equipment and supplies required
• Facilitate laboratory activities and ensure safe transportation of samples
• Based on IPC recommendations, establish and manage body management and safe and dignified burial activities with partners and relevant medical national, regional and local authorities and community leaders
• Advise and ensure effective installation and maintenance of safety, power supply, and ICT equipment including for telecommunication network, satellite communication, computer, printer, mobile phone, VHF/UHF radios, VSAT and required consumables for response activities

Competencies

• Teamwork
• Respecting and promoting individual and cultural differences
• Communication
• Producing results
• Moving forward in a changing environment
• Ensuring the effective use of resources

Functional Knowledge and Skills

• Demonstrated knowledge of operations and health logistics specialties in an emergency context, with proven ability to identify and solve technical problems in difficult circumstances
• Excellent analytical and organizational skills
• Proven ability to share information and knowledge, and to strengthen recipients’ capacities
• Excellent interpersonal skills and ability to work and collaborate under pressure
• Proven ability to promote cohesive action, teamwork and to convince with tact and diplomacy

Education 

Essential
P3 level: A first level degree in public health, logistics, ICT, engineering, pharmacy, or other related fields from an accredited/recognized institute. 
*Additional years of experience can be considered in lieu of university degrees. 
P4 Level: A master’s degree in public health, logistics, ICT, engineering, pharmacy, or other related fields from an accredited/recognized institute.

Desirable

• Professional certification/qualification/training in areas such as:  WASH, IPC, SDB
• Certification or training in information management and application to monitoring and reporting

Experience
P3 level: A minimum of 5 years extensive experience in emergency health logistics at national and international levels, with a significant portion being dedicated to providing field support for emergency humanitarian operations.
*Candidates without a first level university degree can apply if they can demonstrate at least 8 years of professional experience in relevant activities.

P4 level:  A minimum of 7 years of extensive experience in emergency health logistics at national and international levels, with a significant portion being dedicated to providing field support for emergency humanitarian operations
Desirable 

• Related experience with WHO, the UN system, health cluster partners, recognized humanitarian organizations, or international nongovernmental organizations working in outbreaks and/or health emergency response.

Use of Language Skills

• Excellent knowledge of English and/or French (depending on the country of assignment)
• Working knowledge of another WHO official language (Arabic, Russian, Spanish, Chinese) would be an asset
• Working knowledge of Hindi, Portuguese, or Swahili also an asset

Other Skills

• Strong knowledge of Microsoft Office applications
• Demonstrated computer skills with emphasis on database management
• Demonstrated skills in using high tech ICT equipment